


Enough to be Ourselves

by lilith_wnchstr



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dancing, First Kiss, Fix-It of Sorts, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, Slow Dancing, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26958601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilith_wnchstr/pseuds/lilith_wnchstr
Summary: And if he hadn't fucked it up...But that always seemed to happen to him.Willie felt his eyes beginning to water and angrily wiped the tears away. He did not want to think of his so called family right now. He wanted to mourn a loss that had hurt more than he thought it would have.The melody that had been in his head all day came to his mind again and Willie started singing quietly in the empty museum once more.
Relationships: Alex & Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 143





	Enough to be Ourselves

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is my first work ever and I'm kinda nervous about posting it.  
> I basically rewrote 'Perfect Harmony' to fit Willex and this happened.  
> This only got finished bc my wonderful cousin listened to my whining and my equally as wonderful friend helped me with words, so thank you.  
> Anyway I don't want to bother you, so enjoy!

_"Crashed into my world,_  
 _Bittersweet lovestory_ _'bout a boy."_   
Willie didn't know how long he'd been sitting here, it could have been days or mere hours. He'd been sitting here ever since he'd had had to say goodbye to Alex.  
Their relationship had been complicated, the sprout killed before it could bloom into something beautiful, something real. He'd never fallen so hard so quickly. One moment on his skateboard, next sunk deep blue eyes. And if he hadn't fucked it up...  
But that always seemed to happen to him.  
Willie felt his eyes beginning to water and angrily wiped the tears away. He did not want to think of his so called family right now. He wanted to mourn a loss that had hurt more than he thought it would have.  
The melody that had been in his head all day came to his mind again and Willie started singing quietly in the empty museum once more.

 _"You showed me my worth,_  
 _Almost forgot that it was all a ploy."_ He still didn't quite know what had made him introduce the boys to Caleb. He should have known that bastard was gonna use his stamp, after all that had happened to himself not even that long ago. But he'd been too eager to prove himself, to prove to Alex that he was worth befriending. But instead he'd done the opposite. He'd expected to be hated then, prepared to get his heart broken again, but Alex had surprised him once more and tried to fix the mess between them.   
Apparently Willie was just trying to make his own afterlife a living (well not living but you get the meaning) hell, because had he accepted that second chance? No, of course he'd tried to push Alex away, just to save his own ass.  
The tears had started flowing freely now and Willie didn't even try to stop them anymore. He deserved much worse than a few tears and a broken heart. Maybe he should just stop doing errands for Caleb. Maybe he'd be flickering then, experience pain until his last moments as he deserved.   
His gaze slowly wandered over the paintings and sculptures of the museum. He could almost see Alex in front of him, trying to lift that bench, telling him about his problems like they'd known each other for years. Everytime he tried to pinpoint the moment he'd completely fallen for Alex, his mind played this moment. Them screaming together, talking about everything and nothing for hours.   
After a moment of consideration Willie's eyes turned cold. He knew what he had to do. 

***

  
After their almost-but-not-quite second death Alex had not been doing good. Realizing that you'd not just poof out goodbye into the nothingness of the universe had been a relief. Not knowing for sure why was not.   
It was just another question to add to their already about three meters long list of questions about the afterlife. He'd been wailing on his drums for the better part of the day when he realised that Willie didn't know he was still alive. He froze mid-song, getting a few weird glances from his friends, his sticks falling to the ground.  
"Sorry, I... I forgot something. Important." He looked around. "I'll be back in a second." With that he poofed out of the garage.   
Where would Willie go? Would he even be happy to see him again? He had seemed like he didn't want anything to do with Alex after the night at Caleb's club. But he'd also been really determined on letting Alex know that the whole thing had been an accident. And they'd hugged. Alex had never felt safer than in that moment, finding comfort in a world constantly changing. He'd been swept away by the waves, the chaos, almost drowned in the mess that was the future, but Willie had caught him and held on. He had finally found his place, both in the world and in his mind, found himself. And in that moment he'd known he would do anything for Willie.

He heard a soft melody when he stepped into the museum. It sounded like it was sung by someone close to tears. It sounded beautiful. Alex followed the sound to find Willie sitting on the bench they'd moved together, singing quietly. He looked heartbroken, like his biggest fear had just come true. Alex stopped in the doorway and watched quietly, not knowing if he would be wanted right now. Suddenly the look in Willie's eyes changed, it became colder, somehow like the fire that had been there even through his pain had been destroyed. For the first time he truly looked like the ghost he was.  
So Alex did the only thing he knew that cheered people up, he started singing.  
 _"Here in front of me"_ He slowly came out of the shadows. _"Shining so much brighter than I have ever seen"_ Willie's gaze shot up, disbelief and shock taking over his features. "Nonono please don't. I know I disobeyed you, you can torture me with anything you want, but please don't use him. Not him, not Alex. Please." He had taken several shaky steps back, like it was taking all of his strength not to run into Alex' arms, hold on and simply never let go. Trying not to feel too discouraged by his reaction Alex continued singing, albeit a bit quieter and not trying to get to Willie anymore. " _Love can be so mean"_  
He took a deep breath, slowly extending his hand to the other boy, trying to let him know that he wasn't some projection sent by Caleb, but that it was really him.   
A small flicker of hope appeared in Willie's eyes and it was all the encouragement Alex needed to finish his part of the song he'd given Willie as a parting gift, secretly slipped into the pocket of his jacket during their final goodbye. _"But here you are, I know we will be free"_ The hope that had been a small, almost non-existent spark before caught fire. Still it somehow managed to look like it could be extinguished by a single word from Alex. He felt Willie taking his hand and stepping closer more than he saw it, being too absorbed in dark eyes. "It's really you? You're not some- some hallucination made by Caleb to punish me? You're Alex?" Never had Alex seen anybody looking more hopeful than in this moment and it brought tears to his eyes. "It's me." The words were spoken so quietly they could barely be heard through the deafening silence of the abandoned museum. "I'm here and I'll stay."   
As if controlled by a higher power (and who knows, maybe they were) they started singing together, slowly beginning to move together, tentative little moves like they were getting to know each other again. Starting over and leaving all of the betrayal and hurt in the past, finishing what that hug had started.  
 _"The truth is finally breaking through,_  
 _Our worlds collide when I'm with you"_  
Their careful, light dance had progressed to something wilder, they were spinning in circles, moving from one corner of the room to another, chasing each other.  
 _"Two voices rising so, so high,_  
 _The question is: Are we enough to be ourselves?"_  
Alex had taken Willie's hands firmly between his own, intent on never letting go again.  
He had never felt like this. Happiness, sadness and most of all hope. Hope that everything would be okay. That they would get their happily ever after despite all.  
 _"Whoa oh_  
 _Whoa ohoh_  
 _Enough to be ourselves_  
 _Whoa oh_  
 _Whoa ohoh_  
 _Enough to be ourselves"_  
Willie had stopped their uncontrollable dancing to put his arms around Alex' neck. They were now doing more of a slow dance than anything else although he would later vehemently deny it, he started crying a little again when Willie's look softened impossibly further and he sang in a soft voice that almost felt too intimate to bear.  
 _"You set me free"_  
And with those words it was as if a switch had been turned. All the emotions that had been building up inside him, good and bad, finally got out. A weight was lifted off his shoulders and his voice was shaky when he sang the next words.  
 _"Not alone but together, that's just how it will be"_  
Their dance had almost completely stopped, it could barely be called moving and yet it was better than anything they had experienced before. And everytime they would fight in the future (which would happen less and less with time) they thought back to this moment, remembering the raw emotion they had felt after finally finding each other again. Singing together like it was their last chance.  
 _"Love me as I am,_  
 _A little broken, but you put me back up"_  
Willie was closer now somehow. Alex could feel little huffs of breath on his cheek. He thought of all the bad things his parents had said about gay people and decided that he didn't care. They were wrong, something that felt like this couldn't be bad. And if it was he didn't care. He just wanted to stay here, forever, in Willie's arms where he truly felt safe for the first time ever.   
And their voices rose together once more:  
 _"We knew the risks, we made mistakes_  
 _You're more to me than I'd have guessed,_  
 _Our voices rising so, so high,_  
 _The question is: Are we enough to not go down?"_  
That seemed to be Willie's breaking point as well. Alex carefully wiped a stray tear from the other's face, his hand not moving away even though he knew that it had been there a little too long.   
_"Whoa oh_  
 _Whoa ohoh_  
 _Enough to not go down_  
 _Whoa oh_   
_Whoa ohoh_  
 _Enough to not go down"_  
And he felt like a child again, unsure of what to do, never quite getting anything right. Always being the outsider. That is until he caught Willie's eyes which gave him all the encouragement he needed to continue his confession, for that's what it was even if neither realised it yet.  
 _"You made me feel alive again_  
 _Yeah yeah yeah_  
Covering Alex' hand on his face Willie leaned even closer, closer, closer.  
 _"I know that we can beat the hate_  
 _Whoa ohoh"_  
Alex knew how close they were, he could practically feel Willie's lips. He knew where this would most likely lead, knew how his parents would react if they found out... But he also knew the times had changed, his parents weren't his family anymore, his bandmates were. His bandmates and Willie.  
 _"I never knew love was so real"_  
He wouldn't let his old life ruin this. This was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he would fight for it, even if he had to go through literal hell he wouldn't give up.  
 _"Put heaven on earth,_  
 _We both know the worth,_  
 _Because when we're together, we're_  
 _Enough to be ourselves_  
 _Whoa oh_  
 _Whoa ohoh_  
 _Enough to not go down_  
 _Whoa oh_  
 _Whoa ohoh"_  
And Alex was sure that he wasn't alone with this feeling. Because he could see Willie. And Willie looked wrecked in the best sense of the word.  
 _"We know the risks"_  
He looked every bit the chaotic mess of feelings that were currently inside Alex, who guessed he couldn't look much better. And the next words from Willie made his heart soar.  
 _"We'll make mistakes"_  
That was the most meaningful thing anyone had ever said to him.  
 _"You're more to me"_  
Their dancing had ceased completely, they were just standing in the museum, lost in the other's gaze, holding on to each other.  
 _"You and I"_  
If Alex had been unsure before, he wasn't anymore. This was the only thing that made any sense. The only constant in his afterlife.   
The next words came with more feeling than either had anticipated, which only made them more true.  
 _"Enough to be ourselves."_  
And if they were asked later who had closed the gap, taken the final leap, neither would know for they had had only one thought:  
Now or never.  
And if sometimes a special child sees two boys dancing through the museum together while singing a song that portrays emotions impossible to be put into words, well no adult would ever believe in a lovestory of two ghosts who found happiness in death and more importantly, in each other.


End file.
